Knighted
by Sir Cameron Dragic
Summary: A Fate/Zero fic. AU. Diarmuid and Arturia are just high school students, with no knowledge of the Holy Grail War, or Servants. Despite that, they are still linked together, and can learn to live through a new set of problems, and possibly discover their own form of love along the way. Lancer x Saber.
1. Chapter 1

**My first Fate/Zero fanfic! I've been kicking this idea around in my head for a while, and now, I think that I finally found the time to get started on it. So, please enjoy the beginning of Knighted.**

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Chapter 1

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne was definitely not in the mood for an interruption to his morning. As he had walked down the streets of Fuyuki City to reach school for the first time this semester, he had experienced one of the more calming strolls in recent memory. He had awoken to a beautiful sunrise, ate light breakfast of toast, and managed to walk to school completely unperturbed, allowing him to lose himself in his thoughts and musing about the world around him.

You could say that Diarmuid Ua Duibhne was an interesting man. As far as Fuyuki High School went, he was the big man on campus, with dashing good looks elevated by a beauty mark directly under his right eye and wild jet black hair that contrasted with his hypnotic orange eyes. His grades weren't anything amazing, but they were good enough for him to be considered smart, and the girls were all over him. As far as things went, he had a pretty good life, he figured.

With his bag slung over his right shoulder and uniform, which consisted of a teal shirt, black tie, and a white jacket, all paired with a pair of black slacks and dark shoes, unbuttoned, he sauntered through the front gates of the school, which was a modern institution, with one large school building in the center of the campus and various gyms and other smaller buildings scattered around it haphazardly.

Suddenly, his peaceful pace was interrupted by someone pushing past him aggressively, almost knocking him over with the force with which he was pushed with. However, he kept himself upright and immediately glanced at the culprit, annoyed at the disturbance.

"Hey, what was that for?" He muttered to himself as he took a mental snapshot of the person who had shoved him. It was a blonde haired girl with a short ponytail, and the rest of her hair falling over her face in soft blonde bangs. She was fairly short and wore the Fuyuki High uniform, which was essentially the same as his, with the sole difference being that she wore a black skirt, rather than a pair of pants.

She had the back of her head turned towards him, only glancing back at him slightly, revealing the deep green shade of her eyes for a moment before she turned away and continued on her way, obviously determined to get wherever she was going.

He admitted that she was rather pretty, with soft and attractive features that were amplified by the odd color of her eyes that made her seem distinctly foreign, as if she didn't belong to the area. If it wasn't for the fact that she had so rudely interrupted his morning, he likely would have done some flirting with her. However, if she had no interest in him, he wasn't going to waste any of his time on her.

In her haste, the girl bumped into another group of boys that Diarmuid instantly recognized as being part of the baseball team.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" One of the boys yelled at the girl, who paid them no heed.

"Hey, listen when we're talking to you!" Another boy growled, grabbing the girl's shoulder roughly and pulling her towards them. Surprisingly, the girl did not seem to be fazed at all, instead keeping a completely straight face as she stared down the boys.

Diarmuid sighed. He wasn't really one to advocate violence, despite the fact that the girl had rudely bumped into him earlier and neglected to even acknowledge his existence. Unfortunately, it meant that he would have to step in.

"All right guys, let's just leave her alone." He drawled as he walked up to the stop group of baseball players, who had the girl pushed up against a wall, still a blank expression on her face. If anything, she seemed to be daring them to continue with her silence.

"Move along Diarmuid. This is none of your business." One of the players retorted, and Diarmuid shook his head in frustration. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't stand to see women abused, he would have just kept going. However, now that he had started, he had no intention of leaving until he finished his business.

"Look, if it involves a beautiful girl like this, it's definitely my business." He stated, stepping in between the boys and the girl, making it clear that he wouldn't budge. For a second, he locked eyes with the players, letting them know that he wasn't joking around and that he was really going to stand his ground, despite the fact that he was outnumbered three to one.

"All right. Let's get to class." The ringleader of the group ordered, giving up on the girl who they didn't really want to waste their time with anyways. As they finally left, Diarmuid breathed in relief, glad that his bluff had worked.

"Jeez, you're just looking for a fight, aren't you?" Diarmuid groaned in annoyance, turning to the girl, who seemed intent on pushing him out of the way once more.

"I don't need your help. I'm not some damsel in distress." She snapped impatiently, walking past him, but not quickly enough to lose Diarmuid, who quickened his pace to match hers.

"So you do talk." He chuckled, now walking directly next to her, not willing to leave her completely alone after she had practically forced him to step in and intervene on her behalf.

"Just because I don't have time to waste on you doesn't mean that I'm a mute." The girl replied, staring straight ahead.

"You know, an apology would be nice." Diarmuid suggested, to which the girl snorted.

"For what?" She asked, causing him to shake his head in disbelief. She couldn't really be this dense, could she?

"You know, for walking straight into me this morning." Diarmuid replied, still irritated by the incident.

"All right, I'm sorry." The girl said, stopping in her tracks, "Happy now?"

"Very." Diarmuid said with a triumphant smirk on his face.

Convinced that their conversation was now done, the girl began on her way once more, leaving Diarmuid utterly confused by her cold demeanor and standing in the middle of the sidewalk, dumbfounded.

* * *

"Say, Gil, do you know anything about that girl?" Diarmuid asked, gesturing to the occupant of the seat in the very front of the class, who was currently studying out of a textbook, despite the fact that class had not started yet.

"Hm, you mean Arturia Pendragon?" Gilgamesh snorted, uninterested in the topic, "Yeah, what about her?"

"I was just wondering who she was. I've never seen her around." He replied, leaning back in his seat.

"She's been in our class for all of high school. She always gets one of the top grades, but she doesn't really talk to anyone." Gilgamesh informed Diarmuid, who nodded along interestedly.

"Really?" He whispered to himself, absolutely intrigued by the mysterious girl who had bumped into him that morning. There was just something about her that made him want to know more about her, as if she were appealing to some long buried feelings of his, or something.

"Don't tell me you want to go out with her." Gilgamesh groaned, imagining what would be on his friend's mind.

Diarmuid shook his head vigorously, "No way, not yet. That's no way to treat a lady. I just want to talk to her, that's all."

"What's up with that chivalrous attitude?" Gilgamesh chuckled, amused by Diarmuid's words.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, "You know me. That's just how I am with women."

"Yeah. That must be why you're so popular." Gilgamesh replied, turning to face frontwards as the teacher walked into class.

For her part, Arturia kept her head buried in her textbook, doing her best to comprehend the material before her eyes as quickly as she could. She could hear some whispers, and the mention of her name caused her ears to prick up in attention, but nothing more.

She was used to it by now. The fact was that people didn't understand why exactly she didn't act like all of the other girls and instead, chose to study. And to be honest, she didn't care what other people thought. All that really mattered to her was the Holy Grail of making it to a top university and hopefully bringing back prestige to her family.

It didn't matter to her that she was a woman, because despite that, she was going to bring back pride for the Pendragon name that had been tainted by years of infighting and destruction within the family. And because of that, she didn't have time to act like a normal girl, not that she really wanted to anyways. If anything, she felt more comfortable when she was acting less feminine. It was freer and open, without all of the hassle that being a proper lady came with.

She was going to one day be the head of the Pendragon family regardless, so she figured that she should get used to acting like a man anyways. Better now than later, when she could be taken advantage of.

"Diarmuid."

Arturia blinked once, unsure if that sound had just been her imagination. Deciding that she had been staring at the same page for too long, she placed her book down on the desk to give her eyes a rest. As she did, the curious face of a handsome teen was revealed, staring directly at her face.

In surprise, she almost fell out of her chair as she weakly raised her arms up in an effort to defend herself, caught completely off guard.

"What are you doing?" She stammered, blushing slightly as she realized that it was only the boy she had bumped into on the way to school.

"Diarmuid. That's my name. I just wanted to introduce myself." He replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and tilting his head downwards, allowing a single strand of his wavy black hair to fall over his face.

"Oh. Arturia." She replied nervously, unsure of what to do in such a situation. Usually, her icy demeanor was enough to get people to stay away from her, so she had no idea what to do when someone actually mustered up the courage to approach her like this man was doing.

"Nice to meet you, Arturia." Diarmuid said, relishing the sound of her name as it rolled off his lips.

"Sure." She replied coolly, returning her gaze to her textbook, now that she had confirmed that she was still sane.

"Why exactly do you like reading so much?" Diarmuid questioned, glancing at the title of the book.

"Do you always ask these many questions?" Arturia snapped in response, growing increasingly impatient with Diarmuid.

"I was just wondering, since I haven't really talked to you before. I just like to know a little about everyone." He replied innocently. Arturia lowered her book once more, intent on berating the man for continuing to disturb her, but when she saw the genuine look and soft smile on his face, she felt her throat run dry and was unable to say anything in response.

"I've got to study to get into a top university. Now you know a little about me and you can leave me alone." She said quickly, flustered by her natural reaction to him.

Confused, though not totally unaware of the effect he had on her, Diarmuid nodded glancing at her phone that she had placed out on her desk. It was a surprisingly basic and generic phone in a dull grey, not at all what he would have expected a girl to have in her possession. Without a second thought, he snatched it off of the desk and rapidly began typing on the small keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Arturia demanded, grabbing his wrists and wrestling her phone out of his grasp.

"I was just putting down my contact information, just in case you wanted to talk to me again." Diarmuid answered with a flirtatious wink.

"Like I would choose to talk to you!" She replied, burying her face back into her book once more.

"Like I said, just in case." Diarmuid repeated with a small grin, glad that he had managed to evoke so much emotion out of the previously icy Arturia Pendragon.

As he sauntered away and back to his desk, chatting with several girls, Arturia glanced at the man who she knew to be Fuyuki High School's most popular student.

Why exactly had he chosen to talk to her, when he had previously ignored her before? Was he really interested to know more about her, or was it all just a joke?

She stared down at the screen of her phone, which had Diarmuid's number listed right there in her contacts list, which was short, to say the least. Actually, nonexistent would be a better word to describe the current state of her phone, which now held a grand total of three numbers, one for the store that she worked part-time at, one for her uncle Merlin, and now, one for Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. For a moment, she contemplated erasing the number completely, with her finger hovering right over the button that would delete Diarmuid's presence from her life.

"One more couldn't hurt." She decided, flipping her phone shut and placing it into the pocket of her white uniform jacket.

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**Please, leave any and all thoughts you guys have about this story! I am writing several stories at once right now, and I don't want to waste time on a story that no one wants to see continued, so please, let me know if you guys want this story to continue or not, because I am on the fence about that right now. So please, leave your ideas or thoughts, either in the form of a review or a PM. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Saber x Lancer fandom really needs more works, so I don't really think I have any choice but to continue. So please, enjoy the continuation of Knighted. **

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Chapter 2

"And so, the mystery of the missing children has gone unsolved so far. Sources say that the children were last seen being led away by a man in a mysterious purple jacket. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available." The TV reporter droned, causing Arturia to shudder a bit as she buttoned up her uniform for work.

"Wow, that stuff is really creepy." A fellow co-worker mused, to which she nodded in agreement as the older woman helped her tie up the loose ties of her bright blue apron that was paired with the white shirt that she was required to wear at the store.

She worked at the local supermarket, just a short walk from school. It wasn't exactly the best paying job, but it helped out her family as they went through some rough times, and right now, they could really use any penny they could get, so she was in no position to complain about the type of work she did. It wasn't actually that bad since she mostly cleaned and occasionally helped with the stocking of shelves. All in all, it was a good job for the wage and hours she worked.

"Thanks." She told the woman, who nodded and headed out of the locker room to begin her shift. Arturia glanced at a mirror that had been placed inside of the small room and gave herself a once over, mind still drifting back to her encounter with Diarmuid. As she did, she involuntarily blushed a little at the memory of his face peering at her own curiously.

There was something about the almost childlike and innocent expression that had been on his face that made her heart beat a little faster as she thought about it, although she had no idea why she was reacting to him in that way.

"It's probably just because he was such a creep." She declared out loud, trying to find a rational explanation for her own behavior. However, even as she said those words, she could feel that it was not exactly the case. Still, she had no other explanation for her body and decided to just ignore it.

She had work to do anyways.

* * *

Arturia stepped out into the aisles, having finished changing. The shelves were stocked full of produce from various sources, giving the whole store an eclectic mess of colors when it came to the variety of products available.

Wielding a broom in one hand and a dustpan in the other, Arturia began sweeping up the floor, laden with small bits of leaves from the produce. She began humming a little tune and made good progress on the vegetables before she decided to move on to the fruit, which demanded her attention.

Suddenly, as she did so, she noticed a man with light brown hair and a purple jacket seemingly searching for something in the aisles.

"Un, can I help you?" She asked tentatively, causing the man to turn and face her.

"Oh, I'm fine!" The man responded cheerily in an energetic tone that immediately set Arturia on edge. However, since she didn't really have much of a reason to be suspicious, she was ready to move on to the next task when she suddenly noticed a glint of metal from the inside of the man's jacket.

It was only for a moment, but she had seen what she swore was a knife concealed in his pocket.

Shocked by the sight, she stared at him for a moment before he noticed her gaze and placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you looking for something?" He asked, suspicion evident in his voice. She could tell now that a thin frown was beginning to form on his previously cheerful face, indicating the change in mood.

"No, not at all!" Arturia stammered, backing away from the man as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention. Her black shoes were silent as she slowly stepped backwards, putting more and more space in between her and the man each time.

Although he was sure that something was definitely not right with Arturia, the man nodded and returned back to his search, leaving her free to go, an opportunity she took advantage of immediately.

"Thanks for your work today." Arturia's manager thanked gratefully as the teen shed her uniform and closed her small locker, from which she had grabbed her phone.

"No problem. I'll be back tomorrow too." Arturia replied as she waved the man goodbye and exited the locker room, meaning to leave the store through the back door. However, as she eased the back door open, she suddenly noticed the same man in the purple jacket, standing in the back alley into which the door led.

Frightened by the sight, Arturia slammed close the door and stepped away slowly, trying to think the situation through. However, in that moment, she found that her fear was overtaking her, as she imagined the knife that she had glimpsed earlier, and the man wielding right in front of her face. The very thought was enough to make her almost pass out.

Instinctively, she flipped open her phone, meaning to call for help before she realized that the police would not come to act on a claim of one man's suspicious behavior. And her mother didn't get home until late at night, which meant that she only had one choice left…

* * *

"Say, what was up with that girl you were talking to earlier?" Sola asked Diarmuid, who looked at her in confusion.

"You mean Arturia?" He asked, racking his mind for any other girls he had been talking to earlier. And that list included a lot of names.

"Yeah, Arturia Pendragon. I heard that she doesn't ever talk to anyone and is always reading a book when everyone else is hanging out. Why did you want to talk to her for?" Sola asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice at the fact that Diarmuid was paying some bookworm more attention that he paid to her.

Diarmuid chuckled a bit at the question that Sola had posed him. Although she had a boyfriend already in Kayneth El-Melloi, the red haired girl certainly had no qualms with flirting with him or Gil.

"You know, she's right. Everyone's wondering about that." Gil added from his seat across from the two. The three of them were currently sitting inside of a café, each enjoying a coffee, having been there since school ended.

"She's an interesting person, and I wanted to talk to her, simple as that." Diarmuid shrugged his shoulders, not exactly understanding why he had been drawn to her either.

"Well, I don't think that she's good to hang around." Sola declared haughtily.

Diarmuid smiled, "I think that she seems like a good person. Aside from rudely bumping into me once, I don't have any reason to believe otherwise."

Before anyone else could speak up, Diarmuid suddenly felt his pocket begin vibrating and pulled out his phone, reading the screen to find that the caller was Arturia. Instantly, he picked up and placed the phone up against his head.

"Help." Arturia's voice whimpered from the other end, distinctively weaker than he had ever heard it before.

"What's wrong?" Diarmuid asked urgently, understanding that something was wrong from the moment he had heard her speak.

"Just come to the supermarket. I'm waiting here." Arturia replied before the call disconnected, leaving Diarmuid staring forward in shock.

"What was that?" Gilgamesh asked curiously, taking a small sip of coffee.

"I've got to go. I'll see you two tomorrow." Diarmuid replied, quickly putting a few bills down next to his unfinished cup before he grabbed his jacket and ran out of the café, sliding on the white jacket to combat the sudden chill that had come through the air.

* * *

"Arturia!" Diarmuid shouted out as he entered the supermarket, instantly drawing stares from several shoppers who acknowledged his presence for a moment before they returned to their previous tasks of shopping.

"Here." Arturia said softly, stepping out from her position in an aisle which had effectively hid her.

"So, what's wrong?" Diarmuid asked, glancing around to look for the source of trouble.

"I'm…" Arturia trailed off, a little embarrassed to be admitting the reason why she had called him.

"I can't help if I don't know what's wrong." Diarmuid urged, trying to coax the answer out of her.

"I'm scared to go home by myself." Arturia admitted, cheeks burning red as she revealed the truth, pointing to the brown haired man outside, who was currently enjoying a cigarette, "He's been hanging around the store."

As she said the words, she realized exactly how dumb her reasoning for calling him must have seemed to Diarmuid. After all, there was guarantee that she had really seen a knife. For all she knew, it had been his phone reflecting the light, or something like that. There was really no reason that she should have called him out just for a man who may or may not have brought a weapon into the supermarket.

Fully expecting Diarmuid to laugh at her, she turned her head away and closed her eyes tightly, only to open them up when she realized that Diarmuid was not making a sound. She looked at him to find that his face was devoid of any emotion and was completely serious, a jarring difference from the relaxed smile that normally graced his face.

"I understand." He said, reaching out to clasp Arturia's hand tightly, an act that made her yelp in surprise.

"Wait…you don't have to grab my hand!" She stammered quickly, to which Diarmuid responded by pulling her figure closer to him, so that their shoulders touched as they stood side by side.

"If we're together like this, then he won't bother you." Diarmuid said, dragging a reluctant Arturia along with him as he crossed through the automatic sliding doors and past the brown haired man, who glanced at the two for a second before he shook his head and walked off in another direction.

As she saw the suspicious man leave, Arturia sighed deeply and stopped in her tracks, halting Diarmuid as well.

"Well, thanks for helping me out like this." She thanked awkwardly, intending to let Diarmuid get on his way.

"What are you talking about? I'm taking you all the way home before I'll let you go." He replied, the serious expression still on his face.

"No! I don't want to inconvenience you." Arturia protested, but Diarmuid was deaf to her pleas.

"So, point me to the direction of your house." He ordered, completely ignoring Arturia's words.

"Really, you don't have to do this." She added.

However, Diarmuid shook his head, "No. You asked me to come help, and I intend to. Now, point me in the direction of your house." He repeated, causing Arturia to sigh in defeat. She really had no choice now.

As the two walked together, following Arturia's directions, she felt stares from everyone who crossed their path. To the uninformed stranger, the two looked like any other high school couple walking home together, a fact that Arturia knew was not true. She and Diarmuid were not even friends, let alone dating.

Still, she took notice of how his smooth hand wrapped around hers as he led her home and felt strangely satisfied, content to merely be in his presence until they reached her front door. Her home was nothing special, just a regularly sized house with a small front yard and two stories. Just the act of being in front of it with Diarmuid, who seemed to be scrutinizing every inch of the house, made Arturia feel incredibly uncomfortable to be standing there.

"I know, it's just ordinary." Arturia sighed, wanting to crawl into a corner as she effectively embarrassed herself in front of the most popular guy in school.

"No, I think it's really cool. It looks really cozy." Diarmuid remarked with a candid air, although Arturia still assumed that he was doing his best to compliment it.

Arturia shrugged, "Well, it's enough for me and my parents, I guess."

"It must be nice." Diarmuid mused softly, Arturia not sure whether or not he was addressing her or not.

"Yeah, I guess so." She replied, realizing that they were still holding hands and that her mother could come home at any moment.

"Um… your hand." She managed, pointing a finger at their interlocked hands.

"Oh, right." Diarmuid realized what he had been doing and quickly retracted his hand and placed it behind his back.

For a moment, the two just stood outside the front door, not being able to find any words to say.

"Thanks for getting me home." Arturia offered, managing to break the silence.

"Right. So I'll see at school tomorrow then." Diarmuid nodded in response, stepping away from Arturia with the intention of leaving.

"Yeah."Arturia whispered softly to herself, glancing down at her hand.

For a moment, she closed her eyes and could still remember the sensation of Diarmuid's warm and inviting grip that had enveloped her own delicate and icy fingers. As she realized exactly what she was doing, Arturia's eyes snapped open and she shook her head to get rid of the thoughts in her mind.

Diarmuid was really a mystery. Although there was no way that someone as popular as him should even want to talk to her, let alone help walk her home, he had defied her expectations and done so without a second thought.

Yes, Diarmuid was an interesting man, she could tell.

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**Please, leave any and all thoughts, either in the form of a review or a PM. I would really appreciate anything I get. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, thank you to anyone who reviewed so far, it really means a lot to me to know that some people are actually reading this story! So please, enjoy the continuation of Knighted!**

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Chapter 3

Arturia lazily leafed through a page of her math textbook, intending to ingest as much information as she could before the next test came up after lunch. Just as she began skimming through a section about cosines, a slight chill ran through her body, courtesy of a light breeze that came through an open window in the library.

She grimaced, remembering at this moment of the fact that she had forgotten her jacket as she had rushed out of the house that morning. She had been in a terrible rush, having lost sleep over the previous day's events. Even now, the sensation of Diarmuid's fingers intertwined with her own refused to leave her thoughts, forcing her to roughly shake her head from side to side in an effort to clear her head, sending little strands of blonde hair flying out of her ponytail.

"You okay there?" A smooth voice gently asked, causing Arturia to flinch in surprise as she looked up at the culprit, finding it to be none other than the very same man who had been preoccupying her thoughts.

"Oh, ye-yeah." She stammered, embarrassed that he had caught her in the middle of her act.

"You weren't just daydreaming about me or anything, were you?" Diarmuid joked, although Arturia was shocked at exactly how accurate his comment had been.

"As if anyone would do such a thing!" Arturia replied quickly, deciding to bury her head back into her textbook, just as he took a seat across from her studying corner.

Diarmuid arched an eyebrow, clearly having hit a sore subject. It was obvious to him that she had been lying, but now, armed with this knowledge, he decided to take advantage of that fact and have some fun with her.

"Say, you spend way too much time studying. Why don't we do something fun for a change?" Diarmuid suggested, noticing that slight bags were forming under her eyes, which he quickly attributed to having stared at words for too long.

"No way." Saber deadpanned in reply, with Diarmuid pouting in response.

"Oh come on." He pleaded, snatching the book out of her grasp with his quick reflexes.

"Give it back." Arturia commanded, almost like a king, as she reached across the table to retrieve the book. However, Diarmuid had no intentions to do such a thing, instead using his considerable height and length advantage over her to hold the accursed thing out of her grasp, keeping it up over his head with one arm while the other tried to keep Arturia from coming forward.

"Seriously." Arturia growled.

Diarmuid grinned, planning to diffuse the situation, "Seriously, I'll give it back to you if you'll promise to come relax with me and Gil after school today."

Arturia rolled her eyes, finding no other choice, "Fine." She grumbled.

Satisfied with her response, Diarmuid lowered his arms, allowing Arturia to swipe her text book back. Chuckling at the frustrated expression on her face, he stood up from his chair, and tapped a finger up against the side of his head, "Remember, you promised."

* * *

The bell rang steadily for a few seconds before suddenly cutting off, replaced by the sound of idle chatter from students as the school day ended. At her desk, Arturia carefully placed the day's notes into a folder, so that she could find them later, slipping the cheap plastic sleeve into her schoolbag, slinging the bag onto her shoulder with the intention of leaving.

However, before she could take another step forward, she was stopped by a familiar hand on her shoulder.

"Wait up for us!" Diarmuid said, catching up to Arturia, who he swore moved with the speed of a sprinter. From behind him, Gil sauntered up to the two lackadaisically, accompanied by a bevy of girls, who all glared at Arturia jealously as they realized that she was the one that Gil and Diarmuid were ditching them to spend time with.

"Well, if it isn't the infamous Arturia Pendragon. I'm Gil." The blond introduced himself, his blazing red eyes instantly analyzing the girl standing before him.

"Nice to meet you." Arturia mumbled, choosing to ignore the fact that she had been in his class last year. They had never really talked before, so it stood reason that he still had no idea who she was up until now.

"Is this really who you're standing us up for?" A red haired girl who Arturia knew to be Sola asked incredulously, with her group of friends nodding in agreement.

"Well, we've hung out with you guys for too long. We figured that it was time to switch it up." Diarmuid offered, attempting to sedate the increasingly irritated girl.

"Besides, don't you have a boyfriend? Shouldn't you be worrying more about him than us?" Gil added with venom in his voice, with the implication that the subject be dropped being made clear.

At this, the group fell silent, unable to muster up a proper response. Taking this silence to be a victory, Gil nodded to Diarmuid, and the two stepped out of the classroom, Arturia in tow as the unwilling passenger, each of her arms held by one of the boys as they dragged her along.

* * *

Arturia awkwardly stirred her drink, not really sure what to say to a bored looking Gil, who was currently playing around on his phone, barely bothering to acknowledge her existence. Currently, the two were sitting alone in a café, with Diarmuid having left earlier to take a call.

"Thank you." She spoke, catching Gil's attention to make him slip his phone back into his pocket.

"For what?" He asked, a confused expression on his face.

"For earlier with those girls." Arturia elaborated, before taking a sip of her drink so that she wouldn't have to continue.

Gil's face stayed flat, "Oh, that. Don't think anything of it. I just did that because Diarmuid's so interested in you."

At this, Arturia almost spit out her soda, "Wait, what?" She choked out, dabbing her mouth with a napkin to dry up any stray drops of the carbonated drink.

Gil nodded, staring out the window at Diarmuid, who was on the phone, gesturing about something that could not made out, "Yeah. I don't get why, but he just seems especially interested in you. Maybe there's something underneath that shell you put up that he likes. Honestly though, I've never seen him care this much."

"Aren't the girls all over him though?" Arturia replied skeptically, having witnessed many a girl trailing behind Diarmuid at school before.

"That's true, but you must be crazy to think that he actually cares about any of them." Gil chuckled, noticing a group of girls taking a double take at the sight of Diarmuid.

"Is that right?" Arturia replied, still not entirely convinced.

Gil sat back to look at Arturia, crossing his arms, "Well, Diarmuid did care about someone once." He admitted, "Her name was Grainne. He met her in middle school when she was already in high school, and Diarmuid fell for her. Hard. Only thing was, his brother felt the same way."

Arturia glanced again at Diarmuid, who was now smiling with a carefree expression as he put down his phone and just enjoyed the sights of the city for a moment. Was there really any truth behind those words?

Gil continued, "The two of them had a huge argument over it, and Diarmuid left his hometown for Fuyuki to get away from him. For as long as I've known him, he's never been serious about another girl, except now."

"Really?" Arturia whispered to herself, completely shocked by what Gil had just told her.

"Now then, what are we just sitting around for? Let's go have some fun." Diarmuid suddenly said, patting Gil on the shoulder as he approached the table, having reentered the café.

"Sure thing." Gil replied, glancing to Arturia, making it clear that he had violated some secret agreement by telling her about Diarmuid.

"Arturia, are you coming along?" Diarmuid asked, holding out a hand to help her up.

For a moment, she simply stared at him, unable to reconcile the idea that Diarmuid was hiding some sort of pain over his past with the blithe man standing in front of her, offering to take her out to have fun. However, she saw, for the slightest of instants, an expression of fear come over him, almost as if he was being abandoned, before it was gone.

"R-right." She gulped, taking his hand.

* * *

**Well, it's been a while since my last update, and I'll be honest, I contemplated just abandoning this story after I barely got any response to it. But now, I have decided that, for the time being, I'll continue on, if only for my own pleasure of writing this story. Thanks to anyone who has reviewed so far. I really appreciate all of the thoughts and I hope they keep coming!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, thanks a lot to anyone who reviewed the last chapter! Each and every review means a lot for a smaller story like this, and I can only hope that you guys will continue to enjoy the continuation of Knighted!**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Diarmuid, have you thought of joining a club yet?"

"Eh, I've thought about a few sports clubs, but nothing has really caught my interest yet."

Arturia covertly stared at Diarmuid from behind her book, observing him as he conversed with the girls of their class. For the most part, he acted as he always did, gregariously commentating and always making sure that he was at the heart of the conversation. Despite what Gil had informed her yesterday, it seemed that Diarumid enjoyed female companionship quite a bit. It really was hard to believe that he didn't care for any of the girls beyond a superficial level, if the way that he was laughing along with what they said was any indication.

But then again, there were lots of things she had never expected Diarmuid to be. She had never thought that he would ever pay attention to her in a million years, not when she was the resident social pariah of Fuyuki High and he was the king of popularity. Nor had she ever imagined that he would come out in the middle of the night to escort her home just because she felt paranoid about a customer.

Honestly, she lacked any sort of concrete knowledge on him, despite the fact that she prided herself on being a master of observation. Usually, she was able to pick out the smallest details about people she had barely known. She supposed that it came with the territory. If one spent their time observing others instead of interacting normally with them, it was only a matter of time before they found some sort of skill with observation.

But Diarmuid was a special case. On one hand, there were the obvious characteristics. He was handsome, garrulous, and charismatic. But on the other, there were flashes of something different boiling underneath the surface. The look of concern that had been on his face when she had called her, and then the look that had crossed his face for a moment the day before. She swore that it seemed as if he was afraid of something, but the look had come and gone far too quickly for her to make any conclusive gains from it. The only thing that was certain was that Diarmuid was not the empty headed Casanova she had initially pegged him as. And she wanted to know more. Not because she was attracted to him or anything, but out of pure curiosity, she reassured herself as a slight blush crept onto her face.

"Say, Arturia, are you planning on joining any clubs?" Diarmuid suddenly asked from beside her, snapping her out of her thoughts. Apparently, while she had been engrossed in thought, he had sat down beside her, with the group of girls he had been talking to trailing behind eagerly.

Flustered by being caught off guard by his sudden appearance, Arturia cleared her throat, trying to save face, "Well, I was planning to run for student council, but other than that, I don't really have any plans."

It was the truth. In order to find a way to restore the good name of the Pendragon family, Arturia figured that working on the student council would be the best experience possible for practicing leadership skills and it would be an excellent aspect to her resume. She knew that it wouldn't necessarily be easy to get on, as the current members were already well established, and likely to get reelected, but that was the risk she had to run if she wanted to achieve her goals.

"Really? You would be great!" Diarmuid exclaimed with an infectious smile that only deepened the red on Arturia's cheeks with his optimism.

"Thanks." She muttered softly, turning away so that he couldn't see the effect that he was currently having on her, although she would never admit to him that he was the one who was causing it anyways.

"All right, settle down everyone. We've got some important news." The teacher announced as he walked into the classroom, with the students slowly flitting back to their seats and calming down.

The older man waited for a few more stragglers to return to their seats before he continued, "As you know, the elections for student council will begin soon, and anyone who is interested should see Mr. Kiritsugu in the office."

Immediately, Arturia jotted down the details as they came, taking care not to miss any information she would need later on, making plans to go to the office immediately after school ended.

* * *

Diarmuid waltzed into the gates of school, where he was immediately assaulted by the sight of various posters littering the school grounds, each bearing the picture of a smiling candidate for various positions in the student council.

Remembering that Arturia was interested the day before, he glanced around, searching for a picture of a certain blonde, finding that he was fruitless in his efforts until he managed to spot a plain looking poster, filled with a wall of text that was devoid of any of the color and flashiness of the other candidates'.

"Well, I really shouldn't have expected much different from you." He sighed disappointedly, noticing that his fellow students paid the admittedly boring poster no heed as they walked past, more interested in other things.

In particular, he noticed that many students were stopping to look at the poster advertising the senior Tokiomi Tohsaka for reelection as student council president. Diarmuid was, at best, acquaintances with Tokiomi, unlike Gil, who was good friends with the upperclassman, but even with the lack of interaction, he knew that it was unlikely that Arturia could win the election over the massively popular Tokiomi, especially not with her current strategy, a misguided attempt to inform the student body of the issues plaguing the school. When it came down to it, elections were normally popularity contests, and Arturia simply did not have a lot of popularity around the school.

He ripped the poster off of the wall and folded it up into his pocket, intending to talk to Arturia about it.

As luck would have it, Arturia was already in the classroom when Diarmuid arrived, and he wasted no time in walking up to her desk and placing the poster on her desk.

"What is this?" He asked Arturia, who crinkled her brow.

"A campaign poster. What else would it be?" She replied in an annoyed tone.

Diarmuid shook his head, "No, I mean, why is it just text?"

"The student body needs to informed about the issues and where I stand, so that they can make an informed decision come election time." Arturia replied, as if it were obvious.

Diarmuid gritted his teeth, realizing that he wasn't exactly getting through to her, "You know that no one really cares about any of that, right?"

"They should." Arturia replied briskly.

"You won't win." Diarmuid informed her candidly, which elicited a slight response in Arturia shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm not really good with the self promotion thing anyways." She admitted before staring down at the torn poster. Diarumid really did have a point. When she had checked the hallways earlier, it had been clear to her that no one was actually reading her words, and that she was clearly being overmatched by Tokiomi Tohsaka.

"Well then, why don't you let aboard your team as campaign manager?" Diarmuid suggested with a coy smile, causing Arturia to raise an eyebrow.

"You, as campaign manager?" She asked skeptically.

"Why not? I know how to promote myself pretty well." Diarmuid replied confidently.

Arturia had to admit, he was rather good at announcing his presence. And really, what did she have to lose at this point? It was clear that she was on the verge of being destroyed in a massive landslide, so could letting Diarmuid help really hurt?

"Fine." Arturia relented, causing Diarmuid to crack a smile at making a breakthrough to the icy blond.

"All right, we'll get started right away then!" He said happily, standing up a little straighter before he turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Arturia asked as he began walking off.

"I have some people I want to talk to." He called out over his shoulder as he left the room, leaving Arturia dazed and confused in his sudden departure.

* * *

"So, you're giving me the chance to knock down Tokiomi a peg? Sure, why not?" Kirei Kotomine, a brown haired teen with considerable height and girth that only helped to create the impression of a perfect athlete. He was the martial arts champion of Fuyuki High School, and used that fact to his advantage whenever he could.

For Diarmuid, it was only logical that he should approach someone so equally feared and respected around the school for help. From his point of view, he saw it as entirely possible for Kirei's voting decision to sway some of the student body into doing the same, whether it was out of fear or respect.

"Of course, I need to know how Gil feels about this before I'll commit to anything." Kirei added, reminding Diarmuid of the fact that Gil was rather good friends with both Kirei and Tokiomi, and the blond influenced both of them, to some degree.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight, you want me to help take down my friend's campaign, just for some girl that you're going to get over in a month?" Gil asked incredulously as he finished listening to Diarmuid's pitch for Arturia's campaign.

"It's not like that!" He replied defensively, although, given the circumstances, could anyone blame him? It's not like he was into her in that way. It was more like he wanted to see someone driven succeed, despite the odds.

Gil sighed, realizing exactly how dense his friend was sometimes, "Regardless, I don't know why you expect me to just betray Tokiomi."

"Please, for me." Diarmuid repeated, trying to sway Gil until he rolled his eyes and nodded, "Fine. You have my vote. But I won't do anything else."

"Great!" Diarmuid exclaimed, walking off to his next task while Gil just shook his head in disbelief. He was certain that his best friend was somewhat oblivious to his own feelings for Arturia, but if the way that he was running around for her sake was any indication, he had fallen for her.

* * *

Diarmuid paused in front of the door that would lead to the final person that he would have to contact. Taking a deep breath, he slowly twisted the knob of the newspaper club's room and stepped inside of the simple room, which consisted of a small desk, at which a slim brown haired teen sat with his laptop, furiously tapping away at the keys and completely engrossed in his work, only slightly acknowledging Diarmuid's presence with a small nod of his head.

"What do you need, Diarmuid?" Kariya Matou, the current president and sole member of the newspaper club asked, obviously not eager to waste his time by meeting with someone.

"I'll cut right to the chase. I need your help to spread the word about Arturia Pendragon's campaign to be student council president." Diarmuid replied, knowing that beating around the bush would only make Kariya shut down and become unhelpful.

For a moment, Kariya's fingers stopped completely, and a thick silence hung in the air as he contemplated his options.

"Sure." He decided before his fingers began again, the clacks of the keyboard filling the air.

"But of course, I know Arturia Pendragon, and we need to change her whole image. The whole bookworm thing isn't going to generate any votes. No matter what I write, she won't beat Tokiomi without something else to change her image." Kariya added as Diarmuid silently gave himself a high five for gaining the services of a very powerful media figure at Fuyuki High.

"Trust me, I have someone for the job." Diarmuid said while he flipped out his phone, scrolling through his list of contacts before settling on one name in particular.

* * *

**Like I mentioned last update, I am not going to abandon this story, but at the same time, it won't be a huge focus of my time, especially now that I have an internship that will keep me pretty busy for the next few months. I hope you guys kind of enjoy all of the roles that I've put the characters in. Don't tell me that you can't see Tokiomi as the student council president, or Kotomine as a martial artist. I plan on adding even more of the Fate/Zero cast in different areas, and that includes the person that Diarmuid is calling for help. All that I will say is that he or she has some sort of relation to Saber in Fate/Zero that would make sense for Diarmuid to call him or her for help regarding changing Arturia's standing around Fuyuki High.**

**Again, thanks for reading so far, and I hope you guys will make me feel appreciated with some reviews! Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to anyone who reviewed! I'm sorry for the late update!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Arturia strolled by herself peacefully, enjoying the silence that came with walking home alone.

"Hey, wait up!" She stopped in her tracks and turned to see a girl with pure white hair and ruby red eyes running up to her, dressed in the Fuyuki High uniform. She quickly glanced around to see if the girl was possibly talking to someone else, but, finding that no one else was in the vicinity, realized that she was the target.

"Sorry, but you must have the wrong person." She muttered icily, having been the victim of pranks before. There was no reason for people to just approach her, unless they wanted something. Her anti social leanings certainly made it difficult for people to talk to her in general, and the only person who really didn't seem to mind was Diarmuid, but then again, he was a special case.

"No. You're Arturia Pendragon, aren't you?" The girl shook her head.

"Yeah, and you are?" She replied warily.

"Irisviel von Einzbern." The girl introduced herself with a small flourish.

"Right…" Arturia said, before continuing on her way.

"Wait a second!" Irisviel insisted, causing Arturia to sigh and stop walking.

Arturia gave an annoyed glare, "What exactly do you want?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out with me for a little bit." Irisveil said with an innocent smile, "And I'm not taking no for an answer."

* * *

"Wow, your skin tone is fantastic! I'm so jealous." Irisviel exclaimed with a small pout.

"I don't really wear makeup." Arturia said uncomfortably as she looked in the mirror at what she had been subjected to. Irisviel had taken them into a department store and heaped piles of clothes and makeup on her, despite Arturia's own protests, which fell on deaf ears. Irisviel was not one to be stopped, under any circumstances.

In fact, despite her unassuming appearance as a ditzy high school girl, Irisviel turned out to be a pretty forceful personality, one that frankly frightened Arturia a bit and kept her from just walking out, which she had put serious thought into.

"Come on, you could get any guy you wanted, if you had a little confidence." Irisviel said with a particular emphasis on "any."

As if on cue, two teenage boys strode up confidently towards them, one with short brown hair and another with spiky black hair.

"Hey, are you two here alone?" One of the boys asked, flashing a flirty smile that made Arturia blush instantly. She didn't really have any experience with boys coming up to talk to her apart from Diarmuid, and the attention made her feel extremely nervous.

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend." Irisviel answered cheerily, despite the boys' crestfallen faces.

"Oh, well if you change your mind, we'll be hanging around." The black haired teen said, giving Arturia a hopeful glance before the two walked off, and allowing Arturia to finally breathe after holding her breath in panic earlier.

"Irisviel, why are you hanging out with me if you have a boyfriend?" Arturia asked, remembering her comment from earlier.

"Well, the two of us can't really see each other too much right now." Irisviel replied with a somewhat sad tone.

"Oh, is he going to a different school?" Arturia asked, remembering that there was only one other high school in Fuyuki, and it was located on the other side of town.

"Yeah, something like that." Irisviel nodded, "Besides, you're so cute that I don't mind spending time with you!"

With that, Irisviel snatched up Arturia in a playful hug and displayed surprising strength by keeping Arturia from escaping her grip, no matter how hard she squirmed.

For her part, Arturia couldn't help the small smile that came to her face. Irisviel was definitely a good person, for all of her eccentricities. She had never had a real friend before, and while she and Irisviel were nothing of the sort right now, Arturia felt a glimmer of hope that in the future, they would be friends. Despite what she told everyone, she did want people to like her, just like any teenage girl. And maybe, Irisviel could be the first of hopefully many.

"Now then, why don't we go do something about your hair?" Irisviel suggested.

"Wait, what?" Arturia asked in confusion, but it was too late as Irisviel captured her wrist in an iron hold and began dragging her to a beauty salon.

* * *

"Hey, who was that?"

"I don't know, did she just transfer to our school?"

"Guys, I think that might have been Arturia Pendragon."

"What? No way."

"Well, now that I think about it, they do kinda look alike."

Diarmuid smirked slightly as he listened carefully to the idle conversation going on around him. From what he was hearing, it seemed like his plan was working beautifully, but there was only one way to be certain. Swinging his bag back and forth, he casually strolled up the door of his classroom, where a familiar ruby eyed beauty was already leaning up against the door.

"So, I'm guessing that calling you was the right move?" He asked Irisviel, who gave him a triumphant grin.

"Of course. That'll teach you to doubt me in the future." She replied with a haughty flip of her hair.

Diarmuid couldn't help but to chuckle a bit at his friends' antics, "Right."

"But you know, I would make my move soon if I were you. I don't think the boys can stay away." Irisviel said teasingly as she patted Diarmuid on his shoulder and crossed to leave for her own classroom.

Diarmuid nodded slightly and opened the door up to the sight of a radically different Arturia, in appearance anyways. She still had her face buried in a textbook, but immediately, Diarmuid could tell that something was different about her.

"Hey!" He greeted, causing Arturia to put down her book and to stare up at him with her deep green eyes that seemed to be somehow amplified in their hue and intensity. He felt his throat run dry at the sight of her. Her hair was no longer tied up in a ponytail, but instead, allowed to flow freely along her shoulders, like a waterfall of golden strands, and her face, which was admittedly already rather pretty, was touched up with a small amount of makeup.

"Oh, hi." She replied in her usual taciturn voice. He smiled. Well, at least it looked like her personality was still the same.

He plopped down in his desk, immediately turning to face his best friend in the seat behind him, who he noticed was busy staring at a certain blonde.

"Well, I don't know how you did it, but Arturia Pendragon actually looks kinda hot." Gil admitted, shaking his head in disbelief. Honestly, he was actually rather impressed by his friend's abilities sometimes. Even if he was still dense as a rock.

The two watched as a boy made his way to Arturia's desk and forced her attention away from her book with a tap of her shoulder.

Diarmuid frowned at the interaction. It was clear of what the boy's intentions were, and obviously, Arturia, being the naïve girl she was, would be totally oblivious to it.

"I don't like the look of that kid." He muttered, his fists instinctively clenching in annoyance.

"Diarmuid, are you jealous?" Gil asked with a coy smile.

"What, of course not!" He stammered in reply, his face reddening at the mere thought. Immediately, he unclenched his fists and relaxed in his chair as he saw the boy get coldly rebuffed by an oblivious Arturia. He supposed that there was some value in how socially inept she was.

* * *

Arturia closed her books as the bell rang, intent on heading straight home so that she could study for the quiz tomorrow, but almost immediately, she was assaulted by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her body as she exited the classroom.

"Hey there Arturia!" Irisviel giggled as she latched onto the stunned blonde, who had already given up on the notion of breaking free and had resigned herself to her fate.

"Good afternoon, Irisviel." Arturia responded with a worn out smile.

* * *

"So, I see that you're getting quite popular with the boys." Irisviel remarked with a coy smirk on her face as she sipped from her soda. They two of them were sitting in the café that she dragged both of them into after school to gossip about the day.

Arturia fidgeted in her seat, a bit embarrassed at her friend's words, "Oh, really? I didn't notice."

Irisviel sighed as she saw a blush creep across Arturia's face. The girl was so cute, and she had absolutely no idea, which only added to the appeal. Diarmuid really knew how to pick em.

"Oh, come on, I saw a few guys trying to help you out with your bag today. Don't pretend that you didn't notice them." She teased, enjoying the way that Arturia's eyes widened in surprise.

"We-well I thought that it was because they appreciated the message I was trying to send with my campaign." She stammered in response. She didn't notice it at the time, but now that she really thought about it, those guys _had_ been pretty uninterested in what she had to say about the school policies.

Irisviel rolled her eyes skeptically, "Trust me, there was a lot more that they were appreciating than just your campaign. I mean, you should have seen the look on Diarmuid's face when he saw you today!"

"What does he have to do with anything?" Arturia retorted immediately, feeling her cheeks get even redder, if that was even possible at this point.

"Well, don't you like him?" Irisviel asked, a confused expression on her face.

Meanwhile, Arturia almost choked on her own soda at the words that had just come out of Irisviel's mouth, "What?"

"I mean, I think that it's pretty clear that he likes you. Don't you feel the same way?" She added, incredibly interested in hearing how Arturia would respond to such an accusation.

"H-he is pretty good looking, I suppose." Arturia admitted reluctantly, her mind flashing back to the first time she had met Diarmuid. At the time, she had been so focused on school that she had barely even noticed his looks. But after that night when he had come rushing to her aid at the supermarket, well, she had no choice but to start noticing him. And then, Gil had mentioned to her that he was more interested in her than he was in most girls. Did that really mean that he liked her though?

"Could he really like me?" She whispered, half to herself, and half to Irisviel.

The red eyed girl tapped her chin, "Well, I doubt he realizes it himself, but from the way that he has been bending over backwards to help you out, I think that, at least on a subconscious level, he has feelings for you that he wants to act on. He just needs a nudge in the right direction. I mean, both of you are pretty dense when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arturia mumbled, not missing the playful jab that Irisviel had made.

"If there's anything that I've learned from my own boyfriend, it's that if the man isn't willing to make the first move, it's the woman's duty to push him to the point where he has no choice but to act!" Irisviel declared.

"What are you saying?" Arturia asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

Irisviel jabbed a finger in her direction, "You're going to make Diarmuid fall in love with you!"

* * *

**And so it begins. I think that I'm going to start getting into the main plot now, and get Irisviel involved. Hopefully, you guys like the way I portrayed her as a high school student, and rest assured, she has some issues of her own that are only just beginning to surface. **

**As usual, if you want to see more, please leave your thoughts in a review or PM! Thanks for reading!**


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